Transition between Kerr comb and stimulated Raman comb in a silica whispering gallery mode microcavity

We theoretically and experimentally investigated the transition between modulation instability and Raman gain in a small silica microcavity with a large free-spectral range, which reveals that we can selectively switch from a four-wave mixing dominant state to a stimulated Raman scattering dominant state. Both the theoretical analysis and the experiment show that a Raman-dominant region is present between transitions of Kerr combs with different free-spectral range spacings. We can obtain a stable Kerr comb and a stable Raman state selectively by changing the driving power, coupling between the cavity and the waveguide, and laser detuning. Such a controllable transition is achieved thanks to the presence of gain competition between modulation instability and Raman gain in silica whispering gallery mode microcavities. (C) 2017 Optical Society of America